


better together

by aileenwood



Series: post-endgame irondad oneshots [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Big Brother Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aileenwood/pseuds/aileenwood
Summary: Due to traffic, after what seems to be like the forty longest minutes of Tony's life, during which he endured Peter practicing random animal sounds with Morgan on the backseat (he's pretty sure they don't have whales at the Central Park's Zoo, so their practice wasn't making a whole lot of sense) while trying to estimate how long they will take so that Happy can be there to pick them up on time, theyfinallyarrive."See you in three hours, Boss," Happy tells him through the window as they disembark. He takes a look at Tony and the kids, who have already started making their way towards the entrance without him. "Good luck."





	better together

It's something out of need, at first; after a few weeks of insistence, Pepper finally convinces him it will be a good idea to send Morgan to an actual kindergarten - where she can make friends and play with people less than ten years older than her for a change - instead of keeping her at home to be homeschooled by her overprotective dad. After a few more weeks of intense research and debate, they decide on a local kindergarten where Pepper will be able to drop Morgan off when heading to the city for work, and that Tony can easily drive to in the mornings she can't - it's the perfect choice. However, they only realize Morgan will need proper school supplies a few days before the start of her first official school year.

 

“Instead of ordering everything online, you could go on a little trip downtown,” Pepper suggests on Thursday. “You know she loves the city. It could be fun.”

 

Shopping in New York can be a real struggle sometimes, especially when people tend to recognize Tony and make sure he's aware of that, but as soon as the idea of going to the city pops into his mind, a certain sixteen-year-old superhero does too, and that's basically enough to convince him it wouldn't be _that_ bad.

 

“Hey, Mo,” he calls, looking down at the little girl who's playing with her action figures on the living room’s rug. “You wanna see Petey this weekend?”

 

Morgan’s head shots up and she nods excitingly. “Yes!”

 

Pepper rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. “You act like he doesn’t sleep over practically every weekend.”

 

Tony shrugs. “Kid probably needs a new backpack, anyways.”

 

“True,” Pepper laughs, then hums thoughtfully. “You know, you could take them for a little trip around the city after shopping, too. Pete’s been stressed about his midterms, it’d be good for him to distract himself a little bit, don’t you think?”

 

Tony ponders on it for a few seconds, while simultaneously trying - but failing - to avoid thinking of how Peter truly managed to occupy a special space in their domestic life, to the point that even Pepper Potts knows about his exam calendar. He holds back a smile, then nods. “I guess so. If the kid has the time, I don’t see why not.”

 

“Daddy, can we go to the zoo?” Morgan asks sweetly from the floor, having heard the entirety of the conversation until that point. “Please?”

 

Tony’s perfect idea of a day out with the kids didn’t include the zoo, but he finds he can't say no to Morgan’s hopeful little face. He smiles in response, fishing his phone from his pocket while leaning forwards to brush her hair from her face at the same time.

 

“Let’s see what Petey thinks,” he says.

 

**_Me [19:46]_ **

_Hey kiddo, Morgan and I are going downtown for some shopping this Saturday, wanna join? We’ll turn it into a little trip afterwards too, if you have time. Might do your head some good._

 

The answers come a few minutes later, when Tony’s transferred himself to the floor, back against the couch as Morgan explains him the rules of her make-believe world with the action figures. He's trying to understand its politics and why the Thor figurine became enemies with the Captain America one when his phone buzzes.

 

**_Pete [19:58]_ **

_ofc mr. stark i’d love to!! where are we going?_

 

**_Me [20:00]_ **

_First we’re buying some school supplies, but the rest of the day is still undecided._

 

**_Pete [20:01]_ **

_have you thought of visiting the zoo??_

 

Tony sighs down at his phone. He then turns to Morgan, “You’re too much like him.”

 

The little girl looks a bit confused by the statement, but she smiles sweetly at him nonetheless.

  


.

 

“Look!”

 

Tony turns around to watch Morgan sprint all the way down the aisle where a few kids' backpacks are on display. Peter reaches her first and laughs, and Tony only gets what’s so funny when he actually has a look at the products.

 

“You want a Spider-Man backpack?” he deadpans. “The Iron Man ones are down there, you know. In case you missed them.”

 

Peter sniggers. “I think they’re cool.”

 

“Me too,” Morgan agrees solemnly. She turns around and looks up at Tony, pointing a chubby finger at one of them. “Can I have this one? Pretty please?”

 

Tony sighs, grabbing the backpack she’s pointing at. "If you insist," he says, forcing a grumpy tone because he doesn't really want to admit that the thought of Morgan going to school with a Spider-Man backpack is actually extremely adorable. He then reaches to grasp her hand in his, “No more running, ‘kay? Stay close to me and Peter.”

 

Morgan nods, but she already looks rather distracted, glancing around at the colorful products as they start walking down the aisle – at a civil pace, thank you very much – again. Tony nudges Peter, gesturing with the hand holding the backpack to the section of normal-sized bags with neutral colors.

 

“Grab one for you, I know you’ve ripped the last one."

 

Peter has the decency to look a bit embarrassed. Tony doesn't mind buying him stuff at all, but it's the third one in the last two months - one would expect that a smart kid like him would've already found a proper hiding place for his belongings when he goes to patrol right after school, but no luck so far.

 

"Come on, or I'll buy you a Hello Kitty one."

 

They make it to the cashier - Peter hands him a navy blue backpack, and Tony has a look at all of Morgan's supplies before turning to the boy, "Don't you need anything else, kiddo? You always need new pens. Go grab some, we can wait."

 

"It's okay, Mr. Stark," Peter reassures him with a grin, patting Morgan on the back when she throws herself against his legs dramatically because _it's taking too long, I want to go to the zoo_. "I went on a stationary haul with May last month, so I'm fully stocked on pens!"

 

Tony hums, but he grabs a pack of ballpoint black pens hanging near the cashier and throws in with their stuff about to be rung up, just to make sure.

 

Happy's still waiting outside with the car once that's done, and soon enough the kids are on the backseat, with a over-excited Morgan securely strapped in, and Tony's sitting on the passenger seat while Happy pulls off to drop them at the zoo.

  

Due to traffic, after what seems to be like the forty longest minutes of Tony's life, during which he endured Peter practicing random animal sounds with Morgan on the backseat (he's pretty sure they don't have whales at the Central Park's Zoo, so their practice wasn't making a whole lot of sense) while trying to estimate how long they will take so that Happy can be there to pick them up on time, they _finally_ arrive.

 

"See you in three hours, Boss," Happy tells him through the window as they disembark. He takes a look at Tony and the kids, who have already started making their way towards the entrance without him. "Good luck."

  


He pays for the tickets and soon enough they're inside; it's a Saturday but still early, right before lunchtime, so it isn't crowded as Tony feared. Still, he makes sure to buy himself a cheap cap together with lion-shaped balloon Morgan begs for right at the entrance, and together with his shades that's enough to keep his identity just a slightly bit more intact.

 

The first stop is the Tropic Zone, and Tony has to pick Morgan up so she can have a look above the railings at the colorful birds and other animals Tony can't really name, but Peter fills in and does it for him. With his free hand, Tony keeps said boy from toppling over into the fake rainforest with a hand clenched on the material of the back of his jacket, heart skipping a beat every time Peter points a finger excitingly at something and leans forwards even more.

 

They have a walk around the Temperate Territory and spend a ridiculous amount of time looking at the snow leopards. As any other five-year-old, Morgan is just excited to wave at the animals and see if they react in any way - even if said reaction is the slight turn of their heads the other way - but Tony can sometimes see something flash in Peter's still youthful but more mature eyes, like a little bit of pity for the ones in the other side of the cages. Still, Tony smiles to himself when the boy forgets about it for a while, eyes sparkling and his jaw dropping as he observes the animals move around. It feels nice to see him act his age, for once.

 

It _is_ a really nice day. He never would've thought that spending time with two children - his kids - would be this fun, and he can't wait to go back home and tell Pepper how the day went by smoothly despite her worries.

 

However, it seems like good things never last indeed, for his hopeful thinking quickly changes when they arrive at the place where they kept the sea lions, right when the animals' feeding and training session is about to begin. Looking down, he sees that Morgan is holding hands with Peter, so he doesn't bother to uncross his arms and he gets distracted with the little show going on in front of them - it's not his fault, it's actually quite impressive what those little guys can do.

 

Right when the audience explodes in a round of applause after a particular impressive trick, he smiles down at Morgan only to realize she's gone. No, actually, _both_ kids are gone, and Tony immediately makes a complete turn to inspect the place around him but they're nowhere to be seen.

 

He doesn't want to attract attention to himself, so he escapes to the back of the crowd, looking around worriedly all around him as he does so. When there's still no sight of Peter's green hoodie or Morgan's obnoxious bright yellow rompers, Tony curses quietly to himself, clenching and unclenching his fists anxiously. He knows nothing bad could happen to them - especially since his little girl is with Spider-Man, not a regular teen - but losing sight of them when the only thing he's supposed to do all day is look _after_ them makes him feel weirdly concerned.

 

After a few more moments inspecting his surroundings, he approaches a guy standing a little bit further away from the crowd wearing the zoo's guide uniform - he looks up puzzledly as soon as he notices someone is approaching him in quick strides.

 

"Listen, I'm looking for my kids," Tony blurts out right away, just as the guy's eyes start to widen. "It's a boy about this tall," he says, raising his hand up to the height of his shoulder. "And a tiny girl wearing ugly yellow rompers? Have you seen them?"

 

"U-Um, I," the guy stutters, squints at Tony a little bit. "Are- are you by any chance-"

 

"Nope, not who you think I am," he dismisses briskly, chancing a quick look around just in case the kids decide to sprout out of nowhere and end his suffering. "But I need you to focus, have you seen them?"

 

The guy reluctantly look away from him to point to his right. "I think I, um, saw some kids that match your description heading that-"

 

"Thanks!"

 

Tony makes a beeline to the direction pointed, and he makes a turn into a more isolated area of the zoo, where he can spot a gift shop and the doors leading to the restrooms. He mumbles a curse, looking around frantically until a tiny little yellow spot catches his eye a few feet ahead.

 

"Morgan!" he calls, letting out a sigh of relief.

 

"Daddy!" Morgan answers, pointing at something above her. "You hav'ta help Petey!"

 

"What-" he begins, but doesn't need to finish the sentence once he shifts his gaze up.

 

There, balancing himself on top of a thick tree branch is Peter; he's using one of his arms to support himself by hugging the trunk, but the other one is reaching up to something Tony recognizes as Morgan's lion-shaped balloon stuck among some thinner branches and leaves.

 

"What the- _Peter_!" he hisses, loud enough for the boy to hear. "What do you _think_ you're doing?"

 

"Mo lost her balloon!" Peter answers matter-of-factly, not bothering to look down at them. He grunts, repositioning himself to try and get closer to said object, feet shifting dangerously against the wood beneath him. "I'm just trying to-"

 

"Get down, _now_ ," Tony hisses again, looking both ways to see if there's anyone coming. Thankfully the area remains deserted, the visitors being distracted by the show which is still going on, just like _they_ were supposed to.

 

"But I just need to-"

 

"Right _now_ , Peter!" he raises his voice, heart racing when Peter almost slips. "I'll buy another balloon, just get _down_!"

 

Peter grunts and then sighs in defeat. "Fine," he says, starting to climb down the tree, but still not as carefully as Tony would've wanted.

 

"You," he starts once the boy is standing right in front of him, not even a drop of sweat on his skin as if that whole stunt didn't tire him at all - and it probably didn't. Tony points an accusatory finger at him. " _You_ are going to drive me crazy."

 

Peter frowns, "But it was going to be easy, I just had to-"

 

"No, I know you didn't think this through-"

 

"I _did_ think this through, Mo just asked me-"

 

"I know you felt inspired by the monkey exhibit back there but you can't just go around climbing trees without wearing your-"

 

"You're over exaggerating! It's just a _tree_ , not the Empire State Building-"

 

"You-"

 

"Daddy," Morgan interrupts, tugging at the hem of his jacket. "Can I get a bear this time?"

 

Tony sighs, running a hand up and down his face once before smiling. "'Course, baby," he says. He's about to lead them forwards towards the gift shop but as a second thought he stops, looking down at her, mockingly serious. "Promise me you'll never follow your brother's example. Repeat after me: climbing trees is dangerous."

 

"C-Climb- _Climing_ trees is dangerous," she repeats dutifully, but already has an eye on her desired balloon being displayed just outside the gift shop.

 

Tony looks up when he hears Peter choke on a laugh, and the smile the boy shoots him is enough to make him forget about the whole ordeal.

 

"Just kidding, Mo, you can climb how many trees you want," he says, picking her up to place a smooch on her cheek. "Just let me know first, okay?" he says, then nods with satisfaction when Morgan hums in agreement. He then glares at Peter. "The same goes for you, monkey wannabe, or else I'll make Karen tattletale on everything you-"

 

"Yes, I get it," the boy rolls his eyes, but he's still smiling. Like always, he accepts the arm Tony places around his shoulders easily, and soon enough they fall into step again.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hello! i hope you've like this :-)
> 
> i'd just like to point out since i think i haven't mentioned this before, that i don't have a beta reader so please excuse any weird grammar mistakes! 
> 
> but yeah,, big brother peter is one of the best things there is :') pls let me know what you think! also, if you have any suggestions for future oneshots for this series, feel free to send them to me :D


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